Pi Day is an unofficial holiday held to celebrate the mathematical constant, Pi. Pi Day is observed on March 14th. A quick estimation of pi is 22/7; a much better one is 355/113 (note the memorable pattern of the digits); an even better estimate than that is 3.141592654. Or, you could just press the "pi" key on your calculator. Who was born on March 14th? Why, Albert Einstein and Waclaw Sierpinski (Sierpinski's Triangle), of course.
March 14, 2008 marked the THIRD annual Pi Day celebration by the Department of Mathematics at Washington State University. We invited the ENTIRE campus to join us, and we are happy that so many of you did! Why? Because Pi Day is a day of fun and celebration! It is a day to eat as much pie as you want, tell pi jokes, eat pi-shaped cookies and wear clothing that depicts Pi!! Start memorizing pi for next year! This year we had a great time telling corny pi jokes such as:
Q: What do you get when you take a bovine and divide its circumference by its diameter?
A: Cow pi!
True or False?
Cross our hearts and hope to die, here are the digits that make up pi:
3.1415926535897932384
(False! Pi is an irrational number that goes on forever! It cannot be expressed as a fraction m/n, where m and n are integers. Consequently its decimal representation never ends or repeats!)
Q: Which WSU employee said, "Pi Day is my favorite day of the year!"?
A: The person with a piece of pie in each hand in the photo below...(hint: person works in the Dean's Office).
See you again for Pi Day in 2009!! Hurray for Pi!
 Welcome to the third annual Pi Day Celebration!!! |
 This could have been "your" piece of homemade apple pie if only you had been here! |
 The pie is cut! |
 This special pi/pie plate was given to the department. |
 We laughed at Pi jokes! |
 Kris Johnson made pi-shaped cookies! |
 One piece is good, but two is even better! |
 Time to tell more pi jokes! |
 Yellow-coated pie eaters. |
 Pi Day is simply wonderful... |
 Some very serious pie eaters. |
 Meanwhile, more pie is cut and served from the back room. |
 So many, many choices... |
 Roy Johnson, Professor Emeritus, is happy because he celebrated Pi Day! It is said that the portrait of Mr. Neill winks once a year - on Pi Day! |
 Emeritus Professor David Barnes wore his Pumpkin Pi t-shirt. |
 Bob Dillon will join everyone for pie with his coffee! |
 You can never have enough pie! |
